Cuomo’s War On American Energy Independence

The
governor engineered an outright ban on fracking — the technology
responsible for a 55 percent increase in hydrocarbon extraction in America over
the past decade, with no significant ill effects.

In
so doing, Cuomo cut the natural-gas-rich Southern Tier out of the relative
prosperity currently enjoyed by nearby fracking states like Pennsylvania and
Ohio.

Cuomo also blocked two pipelines earlier this spring that would have brought an abundant supply of natural gas to New York state.

In a recent blog post, Power the Future reported on Cuomo placing the blame on state utilities for power shortages when they imposed a moratorium on natural gas hookups to prevent supply disruptions when demand spikes. The utilities were acting in response to the ramifications of Cuomo’s own bad choices, which they had previously warned the Governor about.

Details
from behind the scenes are sketchy, but National Grid is back to hooking up new
customers, having paid a $35 million bounty to the state for its temerity — and
Cuomo has turned his attention to Con Ed, which presumably will get back in
line soon.

Right
now, tractor-trailers hauling compressed natural gas are zipping all over the
state, and a fireball somewhere probably is inevitable. New York needs a new
pipeline, and that fact alone is an anchor on economic growth.